


Found

by ZXSpectrum



Series: 100 Themes Challenge (DAS) [9]
Category: Ultima (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:00:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23202880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZXSpectrum/pseuds/ZXSpectrum
Summary: Old stories tell of a strange apparition, that could be seen on the sky of ancient Sosaria. Just what could be behind it?
Series: 100 Themes Challenge (DAS) [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/39068
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Found

Much has happened in the world of Britannia, many events took place and stories were written about them. Naturally, they were embellished a lot, even when the real happenings were fantastic enough, and the truth got muddied and many facts lost over time, not even found in history books.

The Age of Darkness suffered the most, the change that the land called “Sosaria” underwent when it became Britannia, while a good thing mostly, brought considerable loss of knowledge with it. Many truths about the events in those times would seem completely unbelievable to the people of today, even the Avatar and Lord British, both coming from a different world, would doubt them… If they didn’t experience at least some of them themselves. As such, the stories that were told about this age had only a faint resemblance to the truth.

But it wasn’t just the big events that changed over time, when future storytellers passed them on. There were smaller incidents too, mysterious happenings, whose significance is an utter enigma to the modern people.

One of these is the tale of the steel bird. A story about a strange metallic creature that could occasionally be seen on the skies of the continents of Sosaria. Seen on day as well as night, under the eyes of farmer, peasant and king alike, it’s purpose unknown.

There are many variations of the tale, a testament to how nobody knows what, or why, it was. Some say that it was an evil omen, a sign of Mondain’s rule. Others claim it was the opposite, a bearer of hope, a sign of the Stranger (often believed to be none other than the Avatar), the man that ultimately saved Sosaria.

A fringe theory examines the behavior of the steel bird, erratic and purposeful at the same time, never doubting its course, yet always heading somewhere else. According to this theory, it was on a search, looking for something, yet never finding it. Certainly, whatever it looked for must have been of great importance, possibly an important factor in deciding the fate of Sosaria, whether it was ultimately found or not.

Few ascribe to it, however, many don’t place much importance on the way it moved, especially since it probably doesn’t bear much resemblance to the truth, after a long time of embellishment.

Whatever its identity and purpose may have been, it was undoubtedly a unique creature, never seen before or since, that surely astonished the people of Sosaria too, making them wonder just as much what that thing was.

* * *

Broga was pretty grumpy. For a week now, she was flying all over Sosaria, looking for that stupid signpost. And it wasn’t even the first time that happened. As essential as they were to her, she could never remember where those things are, not helped by the fact that they were quite spaced out, spread over all four continents. Memorizing such things wasn’t her forte, she was more the type for physical action. After all, she was a dwarf.

And so, she often flew all over the world, looking for them. At least, she got her money’s worth for the aircar she used. Although she still thought that she paid too much for it. Nearly a 1000 gold, one could think it was a one-of-a-kind vehicle, like the shuttle she once bought, with which she traveled to the stars to fight spaceships. But the seller had plenty of them. If it weren’t for this price-gouging, the fact that most people here were pretty poor and all those monster making traveling dangerous, everyone could have one.

Finally, she spotted the small island, surrounded by mountains. From hereon, everything went fast. Broga landed at the edge of the forest, wandered through it, as she had many times before, and reached the signpost. Immediately after reading its inscription, power surged through her, making her a little tougher. She would have liked to do that again, getting stronger right away, but for some reason that wasn’t possible. First, she had to visit another signpost, receiving a bit of its power. And she constantly had to repeat this process, which is why her orientation issues were such a problem.

With a sigh, she made her way back to the aircar, pondering which signpost she should visit next. Maybe the one that made her more intelligent, perhaps then she would get a better memory.

Sometimes, Broga wondered how future generations would talk about her quest.

**Author's Note:**

> Ultima I is a weird game.


End file.
